Winter is the season I catch up on movie watching. I try to watch at least one a week. Some years I don’t do well, and in times like last year, I end the winter with watching only one or two movies.

There were years that passed when I didn’t see any movies. Spring, summer and fall are just too busy to watch movies—unless something monumental, such as a Marvel movie—comes out in theatres. I’m just not a TV watcher, so I’ve missed many good—and some just for fun—movies over the past three decades.

Why do I force myself to watch movies now?

Disconnect

Movies remove me from reality. Although many enjoy this chaotic, messed up world that has become void of common sense, I often prefer to journey the path less travelled, less noisy, more personal.

Movies transport me to another time, another place and a more fantastic reality. It must be the fantasy gene in me that keeps me hoping that life can be more adventurous, more challenging and more magical than it is. I need the break from reality to recharge my batteries.

Jan Cooper doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. The jolly old elf had failed to deliver the one true gift her heart desired. The single mom’s only wish is for Christmas to pass quickly, so life can return to normal, and she can forget about the two men who had disappointed her most: St. Nick and her ex-husband.

I’m in the middle of the read out loud edit, and since the kids are home from school and my office is located in the kitchen, my reading is done for the day. This doesn’t stop work on the romance novel, it means only I have to work on other aspects of the whole publishing business of it.

I have only a few things left to decide. They include dedication, a short clip of an exciting scene, author biography and summary.

Dedication

It’s a tough one this time. I’m usually quite direct with my dedications, but I’m on a different path with this story. It’s dearer to the heart, hits a little closer to home and contains many elements that many won’t understand but mean a lot to me.

It also takes me back in time to when I lived a simpler, carefree life, back to when music played a bigger part in who I was. It was a time when I thought more things were possible, when I wasn’t so jaded and I still believed in things I now see are impossible.

How can I wrap all this up in a few mystical words that will make me smile years from now when I read them? Here’s what I’ve come up with so far for the dedication (without the video clip):

To all the knights who capture our hearts…

Bryan said it best when he sang Straight from the Heart

Short Clip of Exciting Scene

Something new I’ve added to the last few books is a snippet in the front before the story gets underway. It’s like a hook, something to convince the reader that they need to read this story. I’m tossing around a few snippets for Twistmas. Which do you like best?

I wrote Twistmas – The Season of Love in the fall of 2012 with the intentions of releasing it for Christmas. That Christmas came and went like winter a storm, and the romance novel wasn’t published.

In the new year I promised myself I’d get it done and release it in the fall. Another failed attempt.

Here we are just ten days from Christmas 2013 and still Twistmas sits on my computer, unshared with any readers. So what is wrong? Obviously something is to have created this procrastination on my part.

I feel the story is well-written, engaging and entertaining, so that’s not the problem. I could use time as an excuse but…well, I’ve done other things and avoided editing Twistmas.

Here’s the back cover blurb: Heritage agriculturalist Olivia Luttlegrove still mourns the tragic loss of her parents. To aid in the healing, she’s created a haven on the farm that’s been in her family for generations.

John is a drifter who arrives in Scarinish with a secret and a mysterious past. When Olivia hires him as a farmhand, the passion ignites.

Love blossoms, but Olivia’s independent ways and John’s reluctance to share his secrets threaten their future together. Outside forces wreak havoc on their private sanctuary, and the past rushes in. Can they accept the truth? Or will their love be lost forever?

Note: Scarinish is a fictitious place in Nova Scotia. I wrote a post about it here.

My first romance novel is less than a month away from publication. Final edits, cover blurbs, front and back matter and other material remain incomplete, as does the cover. I’ve played around with a few ideas since I began writing the story, but haven’t settled on anything concrete.

To be honest, I often think of several covers, then have a difficult time choosing the one which bests suits the story, and one that will grab the reader’s attention and entice them to read.

Pockets of Wildflowersis about Olivia Luttlegrove. She lives alone on a farm in rural Nova Scotia. Her 300-acre spread is mostly forest with several dozen acres of hay, corn field and pasture. She raises Cotswold sheep for wool, Toggenburg goats for her personal milk consumption, chickens and a few cats. The excess milk is turned into yoghurt, cheese and butter, which she sells to neighbours.

Book 2 in the Castle Keepers Fantasy Series: Bronwyn Darrow is desperate to rescue his daughter Isla from Blackvale Castle. For five long years, he’s travelled Ath-o’Lea searching for her, but the formidable castle remains elusive. He’s surrendered his coveted sergeant’s position at Aruam Castle, but he’s willing to sacrifice everything—even his honour—to bring Isla home. If he fails, his innocent little girl will face a lifetime of slavery.